Christians are not obligated to keep the 10 commandments given by Moses. If we did keep the 10 Commandments, none of us would work or do our own pleasure on Saturday, the Sabbath. Or, if you believe others who say we are to apply the law of the Sabbath to Sunday, the Lord’s Day, instead, the same rules apply: no work of any kind and no personal pleasure of any kind. That is what the Law says.

“8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex 20:8-11 (KJV)

“13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;…” Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV)

In case there are some who say they do these things on the Sabbath or Lord’s Day and are not yet convicted of their failure to keep the Law, let us consider another commandment requiring total and perfect devotion to God. Who can truly say of themselves that they love God with THEIR WHOLE HEART, WHOLE MIND, and WHOLE SOUL?

“29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Mark 12:29-30 (KJV)

I am self-aware of varying degrees of achieving and not achieving this devotion to the Lord in the day-to-day experiences of my own life, and even this self-awareness is not God’s perfect awareness of it. Therefore in this regard to perfectly loving God, in my own self-judgment, I see that I clearly continue to fall short of God’s Glory. And this is the Message of the Cross to me: The Blood of Jesus Christ has made me, a sinner, acceptable to the Holy God Who is Just and without sin. And I trust by faith that this Justifying God will work out His Son in me by the Power of the Holy Spirit through faith, and that I have God’s acceptance as an adopted son in His Family all along the way. Hopefully enough is said here so that everyone who reads this is convicted of his or her own guilt before the Lord in not being able to keep the commandments of God completely and at all times.

“26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.” Romans 3:26-27 (KJV)

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Romans 3:19 (KJV)

This mandate by some that we need to keep the 10 Commandments goes to the heart of Grace versus the Law. It is amazing how many individual scriptures can be construed to support either position. I wonder if God is up to something here. Perhaps this is how He lets the Cross of Christ continue to be a stumbling stone even to some of those who read the Holy Scriptures and call upon the Name of The Lord. Why a stumbling stone? God is not going to allow anyone to boast about his own works or self-effort, and anyone who does attempt to do this will suffer the prediction of this scripture and will fall over this Stone to his own spiritual destruction. How this makes me fear the Living God Who controls the minds and hearts of men. Truly, we do not belong to ourselves. Even our thoughts are not our own. Only by faith can this truth of our lack of control in our lives be perceived.

“(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;)…” Romans 11:8 (KJV)

“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” Prov 16:9 (KJV)

“I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.” Isaiah 66:3-4 (KJV)

“11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thess 2:11-12 (KJV)

Galatians serves as the major source of New Testament Scriptures that is devoted to this war between Law and Grace. A couple of sentences from it describe the conflict well:

“2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit [GRACE], are ye now made perfect by the flesh [LAW]?” Gal 3:2-3 (KJV)

We were not told to obey the 10 commandments to become a Christian. We became a Christian because we were called by God and responded in faith in the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb. And this was done without the 10 commandments being a part of the package, so why now after responding to the call in faith without the law, would we voluntarily put ourselves back under the law and under another set of rules or laws as a part of a continuing package? We started in faith and now we are being made perfect by adding some 10 commandments and man-made laws to the picture. The following scripture has been a source of confusion on this subject on both sides of the debate. One of the key phrases is “the law, or the prophets”. This phrase is used elsewhere by Jesus and the context refers to “the authority and principles of the Old Testament.” (On the phrase, see Mt 7:12 Mt 22:40 Lu 16:16 Ac 13:15). This general way of taking the phrase is much better than understanding “the law” and “the prophets” separately and in their details. Matthew 7:12 states the golden rule as fulfilling the law and prophets: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. I do not see the requirement to observe the Sabbath day in this understanding of the Law and the Prophets.

17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5:17-20 (KJV)

This statement has caused a lot of confusion in the churches. Some teach erroneously that it shows that the law is still in effect and Christians need to keep it. Others, also erroneously say that Christ did fulfill it by His Righteous Life on earth ending in His Death so that we do not have to fulfill it since Christ fulfilled it for us vicariously in the past. Both viewpoints are wrong. God has a new Way of demonstrating His Righteousness in the life of the believer. It is not by our efforts to obey His Laws, but rather by the Help of His Holy Spirit within us as we humbly wait on God by faith to do His Work of Righteousness in our lives as an ongoing process during our lives in these mortal, weak bodies..

“4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” Gal 5:4-5 (KJV)

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Phil 2:13 (KJV)

If we are allowing God to work in our lives by yielding to His Holy Spirit, then a righteous life does begin and continue to manifest itself and grow in our lives as the Fruit of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace.

“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Gal 5:22-23 (KJV)

“8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;): Eph 5:8-9 (KJV)

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor 3:18 (KJV)

“2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:2-3 (KJV)

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev 14:12 (KJV)

“9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.” John 15:9-17 (KJV)

“13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:13-14 (KJV)

The whole point is this: Christ in us helps us to live the Christian life so that it is not by our human strength, but by the Power of the Holy Ghost that the righteous life of Christ is manifested within us. The picture of the Vine (Christ), the Gardener (The Father), and the branches (believers) illustrate these truths well. Abide in Christ!

“4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:4-5 (KJV)